Abu Hamid al-Ghaz&257;l&299;, a Muslim
jurist-theologian and polymath who lived from the mid-eleventh to
the early twelfth century in present-day Iran, is a figure
equivalent in stature to Maimonides in Judaism and Thomas Aquinas
in Christianity. He is best known for his work in philosophy,
ethics, law, and mysticism. In an engaged re-reading of the ideas
of this preeminent Muslim thinker, Ebrahim Moosa argues that
Ghaz&257;l&299;'s work has lasting relevance today as a
model for a critical encounter with the Muslim intellectual
tradition in a modern and postmodern context.
Moosa employs the theme of the threshold, or
dihliz, the
space from which Ghaz&257;l&299; himself engaged the
different currents of thought in his day, and proposes that
contemporary Muslims who wish to place their own traditions in
conversation with modern traditions consider the same vantage
point. Moosa argues that by incorporating elements of Islamic
theology, neoplatonic mysticism, and Aristotelian philosophy,
Ghaz&257;l&299;'s work epitomizes the idea that the answers
to life's complex realities do not reside in a single culture or
intellectual tradition. Ghaz&257;l&299;'s emphasis on
poiesis--creativity, imagination, and freedom of thought--provides
a sorely needed model for a cosmopolitan intellectual renewal among
Muslims, Moosa argues. Such a creative and critical inheritance, he
concludes, ought to be heeded by those who seek to cultivate Muslim
intellectual traditions in today's tumultuous world.